A gourmet brew, minus the barista
In the food industry, it seems, the robot revolution is well under way, with machines mastering skilled tasks that have always been performed by people.
Now comes Briggo, a company that has created a fully automated, robotic brewing machine that can push out 100 cups of coffee an hour – equalling the output of three to four baristas, according to the company.
Using a blend of Latin American beans, the machine – known as a ‘‘coffee haus’’ – creates customised cups of gourmet coffee that can be ordered via an app, giving customers control over ingredients, espresso shots, flavourings and temperature without any human interaction.
The company says no other business in the world has applied as much technology to specialty coffee. ‘‘No more lines, no more counter confusion, no more mis- spelled names,’’ its website says.
Kevin Nater, Briggo’s president and chief executive, said the machine would thrive in locations where convenience was highly valued, like airports and office buildings, where several of the machines currently operate.
Nater said he had no doubt his machine made coffee as well as, if not better than, a human barista.
Unlike human workers, a machine didn’t get flustered when things got busy, he said. By looking at analytics, he could ensure that the robot was hitting all of its ‘‘quality marks’’.
But Oliver Geib, a barista at Ceremony Coffee Roasters in Annapolis, Maryland, remained sceptical. ‘‘All the numbers and data in the world can’t actually tell you how the coffee tastes,’’ Geib said. ‘‘A big part of what a human brings is being able to taste the coffee during the process of dialling in the flavour.’’
Asked how Briggo would affect employment, Nater said food service companies had a hard time retaining workers and were often short of staff, especially in airports, where turnover was high.
Asked whether he was worried about losing his job to a robot, Geib said: ‘‘Absolutely not.’’
Though he could see the value of robots making coffee at particular locations when customers were short of time, he said, there was a loyal group of people who would always seek out the slower, interactive experiences at coffee shops.
‘‘A lot of customers really appreciate watching a barista carefully pouring water or steaming the milk or adding a little flourish to their drink. The social aspect, the atmosphere and the interaction with the barista is a big part of the experience of drinking coffee.’’
Oliver Geib, barista